Coaching: Identify Your Hidden Strengths
Over this last year or so, many of us have also learned a lot about ourselves. What matters and what doesn’t. Our priorities. What we’re good at – and what we’re not…
So, as we begin to prepare for life to return to some kind of normality, it’s a good time to see what we’ve learned about ourselves and explore our strengths and talents. And in particular those strengths we take for granted or that are usually tucked away in our life experiences.
Download file: Coaching: Identify Your Hidden Strengths (5 downloads )
Download file: Coaching: Identify Your Hidden Strengths (5 downloads )
Here are the 3 Steps to Identify Your Strengths:
- Just take 20 minutes or so and sit down with your journal, a pen and piece of paper – or at your computer.
- Now answer the 10 questions below. Simply make a list – and don’t worry about repeating yourself. In fact if a strength comes up several times that’s GREAT, it’s a strength pattern and points to a strong strength!
- Then, review your list. Summarise the overarching strengths and themes you notice – and if necessary rewrite your list on a fresh piece of paper! Ta-da. Strengths done.
Make it fun: You could do this with a friend, colleague or even group of friends over zoom – or with physical distancing.
Top Tip: Get into the detail. Look for things you normally gloss over – and then drill down to SPECIFICS.
Here are 10 Great Questions to Help You Identify Your Strengths:
- Tell me about some of the biggest challenges in your life? How did you overcome them? Sometimes we take our experiences for granted, not realising that we use our strengths to overcome and deal with difficult times. Even better, get a friend to ask you this question and ask them to note down the strengths they observe!
- What do you like about yourself? The things we like about ourselves are usually things we’re good at!
- What do you enjoy doing? We usually enjoy what we’re good at!
- What do you yearn to do? Yearnings suggest possible unexplored or undeveloped talents!
- What are some unusual skills you have? The word ‘unusual’ forces us to think what’s different about us. Take a moment to delve deeper and identify your underlying strengths
- What are you proud of in your life? Consider what strengths you use or used in this area
- What are three of your greatest strengths? A sneaky question. Using the word “greatest” implies there are other strengths too – and really focuses the mind
- Tell me about your first achievement. Even if it seems boring or small now as an adult – this early achievement gives pointers to innermost strengths
- What would not be like it is – had you not been part of it? eg. a work or volunteer effort. What did you do and what strengths did you use to make that happen?
- What do you get complimented on most? This tells you what others admire and like about you – look for the skills and strengths underneath!
